Chapter 50
Chapter 50
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 50
Fear.
An instinctive appeal toward another entity embedded deep within the human psyche.
Gerard was lost in thought as he watched the recruits train inside the Orc pen.
Everything about these people's actions was refreshing to the point of excess, but the monsters' behavior was even stranger. Whenever soldiers entered the Orc pen, the Orcs were busy running away. And because they had been out hunting these monsters, you never saw the soldiers feel any fear of them.
The real issue was the fact that the monsters instinctively avoided the soldiers. That turned one-eighty the moment recruits entered the Orc pen. Things had softened considerably now, but in the beginning, the Orcs had bared their teeth and resisted the recruits.
To Gerard's eyes, the only differences between the recruits and the Gauri soldiers were skin color, and the quality and quantity of their training. So if you didn't find it strange that the monsters instinctively cowered only before the Gauri soldiers, that would be the real oddity.
"What are you doing here?"
"Ah! Risel."
Jolted from his reverie by Risel's voice, Gerard rose from his seat and greeted him warmly. Risel, who somehow always carried himself with an air of ease, was also the only person who could clear up Gerard's questions. Judging by what Uru had said a moment ago, Risel was the only one likely to help Gerard understand.
"Isn't it strange?"
"Heh heh, what do you mean?"
At Gerard's out-of-the-blue remark, Risel asked in return with a dry chuckle. Gerard's gaze shifted from Risel back to the Orc pen, and his previously closed mouth slowly began to open.
"Not just the Orcs, but the way the soldiers treat the monsters here, and the monsters' inexplicable cowering behavior. And what did General Uru say? He asked back, rhetorically, is it scary if the neighborhood dog glares at you? I mean, is a monster the same as the neighborhood dog?"
"Puh-hah-het!"
"Why are you laughing?"
At Gerard's grumbling, Risel suddenly burst into loud laughter. At this display, Gerard's expression was half doubt, half bluntness. After laughing loudly like that, Risel tossed a remark at Gerard.
"He's right."
"Excuse me?"
"General Uru is right."
"......?"
Risel's answer was more than enough to leave Gerard dumbfounded. At his expression, Risel laughed awkwardly before slowly beginning to explain it to Gerard.
"I mean that it is not wrong."
"Why is that?"
"Five hundred years ago, the Archmage Peter Grass published a theory on the subject."
Gerard began to be drawn into Risel's calm explanation. Risel's words slowly entered his ears.
"What exactly is the reason for humans' instinctive fear of monsters? That was his question. It has something in common with animal instinct. In fact, for a thousand years after monsters first settled on this land during the God-Demon War, there was no problem. But problems arose when the continental wars broke out. The key factor identified is that the soldiers who should have been holding back the monsters marched out to the battlefields. That was when contact between ordinary commoners and monsters first began to become frequent. Of course, it existed before, but not like it did then. The invasion and attacks of monsters on villages became a realistic terror for the powerless common people, and that is why it took root."
"I see."
"And as that became deeply entrenched among the populace, in the people's perception, monsters solidified from enemies to be killed into dangers to be avoided."
"That would make sense."
Risel's logical answer made Gerard nod his head naturally.
"One of the strengths of humans is the ability to pass knowledge down through the generations to our children. Naturally, experiences are included in that knowledge. However, this has instead become a poison, causing the fear of monsters to be inherited as well."
"Ah, I see!"
"You say to a crying child: if you don't stop crying, an Orc will come and carry you off....... In this way, without even realizing it, they have instilled the fear of monsters through the generations."
"Ah!"
An exclamation of understanding followed Risel's explanation. At Gerard's expression, Risel laughed awkwardly, as if embarrassed, then continued his explanation.
"The fears we have as children remain even when we become adults. In the end, without knowing it, we come to perceive monsters as being above humans in the food chain."
"Then?"
"Yes. From the standpoint of General Uru and his people, since that fear does not exist, an Orc is merely a somewhat strong, two-legged pig, and a Minotaur is perceived as profitable hunting game."
"Ha...... hahaha, this is absurd."
A hollow laugh burst from Gerard's lips. He had also learned, later on, that these people had come from somewhere else. He knew that in the place where they had lived, there were no Orcs—no, there had been no such thing as monsters at all.
"So as General Uru says, they are merely peculiar beasts."
"Yes."
However, Gerard soon tilted his head and posed another question to Risel.
"Then what on earth is the reason the monsters cower before them?"
At Gerard's next query, Risel gave a slight nod and opened his mouth again.
"That is because of their culture."
"Culture?"
"The nation called Gauri encouraged the entire populace to hunt. When they held festivals here, they held hunting competitions. It was the beginning of military training, but also a means of securing food to survive in the rough north."
"Hunting competitions?"
At Gerard's question, Risel simply gave him a smile. The meaning was that he was correct.
"In the end, to them, those monsters are merely objects for training and do not deviate much from being targets of the hunt. These people have likewise inherited such experiences from their parents. When they hear, 'So-and-so caught an Ogre,' rather than an exclamation of admiration, it is jealousy—'I should have been the one to catch it'—that is the reaction they have inherited. What we call monsters are, in the end, beings ruled by strong instincts. Even if they speak, they are beings of strong instinct. So what happens when the other party regards you as the object of a hunt and looks upon you with greedy eyes? If their skill is also superior, then naturally, the monsters will gradually come to perceive them as higher on the food chain. Such an instinctive mechanism is called Peter Grass's Definition."
"I see."
Gerard let out an exclamation of admiration as he answered, but on the other hand, a different thought crossed his mind.
'His words are sage-level, but how is his magic a mere 2nd Circle?'
However, this was the one thing he could not bring himself to say to Risel.
"Kyuiiiik!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Even at that very moment, inside the pen, a tied-up Orc was being beaten as part of the recruits' training to overcome instinct.
As he watched the scene that day, for the first time, Gerard felt it was not the abuse of a monster but the abuse of livestock. And it was only then that he began to understand their actions.
A pig was a pig, but one you couldn't eat—and an insolent pig that attacked humans on top of that. The Gauri army gave it the appropriate treatment by feeding it aphrodisiacs to increase its numbers and using it thoroughly.
And in Gerard's mind, a new law of the continent was sorted out: that this was one of humanity's natural forms of greed. At least, there might be animal rights activists here, but there were certainly no monster rights activists.......
* * *
Clop clop clop.
Baron Levion Gowin, having entered the Alvin domain at the edge of the Reganza Mountains along with twenty-some horsemen, wore a displeased expression. Behind him followed three hundred private soldiers he had personally brought with him.
"Why I had to come to such a backwater......."
"My lord, even so, hasn’t trade in this region developed because of the specialty products of the Reganza Mountains?"
"Hmm."
Even with his retainer's consolation, Baron Gowin's expression did not soften. Six months had passed since the royal palace learned of Baron Alvin's death and the pillaging of the manor house within the domain, and for that news to then be relayed to his successor, Baron Gowin—the political situation was that chaotic, and the kingdom simply hadn't had the leisure to pay attention to a place like this.
Arriving at the location of Baron Alvin's manor house after entering the domain, Baron Levion Gowin could do nothing but frown once more. Not a single thing that could be called a possession remained.
"Helriot."
"Yes, my lord."
At Baron Gowin's call, the knight named Helriot approached. Frowning, Baron Gowin relaxed his frown and spoke, pointing at the soldiers.
"Mobilize two hundred soldiers to levy emergency taxes, and summon the merchants of this place to the manor house."
"Yes, sir."
"And have the steward straighten up the manor house, and go hire some additional maidservants who will be useful within this city."
"Understood."
After issuing his orders, Baron Gowin slowly glanced around the manor house and then turned his head to gaze at the Reganza Mountains.
"Like a fool. Went on a subjugation only to become monster feed. And on top of that, to have his home and wealth looted by bandits......."
Baron Gowin's scathing words were directed at the now-deceased Baron Alvin. But work was work. Baron Gowin had no choice but to begin a detailed investigation into Baron Alvin's death. To Baron Gowin, Baron Alvin was nothing more than a man who was a nuisance in more ways than one, even in death.
"Even so, it will be necessary to investigate the Reganza Mountains first."
Baron Gowin's voice trailed off into the gradually reddening sunset.
A soldier's shout shook the air as he spotted a train of wagons returning from the city that had once been the Alvin domain and was now the Gowin domain.
"Open the gate!"
"You, go quickly and report to Giyul!"
"Yes, sir."
The soldier who had been guarding the watchtower with him ran off to inform Buyeo Gi-yul, the defense commander, of this news, and the remaining soldiers opened the gate and warmly greeted the returning wagons and their comrades.
Since their population was now large, simply buying and bringing back goods from the city was not a huge help. But above all, because their primary objective had been to gather intelligence on the newly arrived lord, the soldiers moved with unusual haste.
After receiving the soldier's report, Giyul hurried his steps to find Gye Ung-sam.
"Deputy Commander, the wagons we sent out to reconnoiter are returning now."
"Is that right?"
"Yes."
"Let's go."
Ung-sam rushed out with Giyul to greet the wagons. However, even before they could fully exit the building, they saw a soldier running toward them urgently.
"Urgent report!"
"What?"
From the dust-caked appearance of the soldier who had just arrived, Ung-sam could fully sense something was wrong.
"Hmm."
Go Jin-cheon, seated upon the Throne of Yeolje, was furrowing his brow. Before him, Gye Ung-sam and Buyeo Gi-yul had just reported the results urgently brought by the scout and were now awaiting orders.
"According to the reconnaissance team, the forces of this newly arrived Baron Gowin plan to focus their reconnaissance on this very lake."
"Hmm."
Even at Yeon Hwi-garam's words, Jin-cheon simply kept his brow furrowed. At that, Buru, as if frustrated, sprang up from his seat and shouted.
"Just give me a hundred men! I’ll chop ’em all to pieces and turn ’em into fertilizer!"
"Buru."
When Jin-cheon called to the fuming Buru, Buru stood there glaring, determination blazing in his eyes.
"Sit down. We cannot kill them."
"Then we'll be found out!"
"......."
At Buru's words, Jin-cheon said no more and fell silent. By a cruel twist of fate, intelligence had arrived that the newly appointed Baron Gowin, who had assumed his post after half a year, was going to focus his investigation on this area.
The reason was to investigate the cause of Baron Alvin's death, but the problem was not whether to kill them or not. No matter how rotten the Haian Kingdom might be, they had formally dispatched an investigative team.
If they killed these men too, the Haian Kingdom would certainly find it suspicious and could potentially deploy a larger-scale force, which could become a headache for them. Of course, given the current state of continental affairs, any force deployed by the Haian Kingdom, even if large-scale, would take time, and its actual dispatch would also be delayed. But for now, being exposed was ultimately disadvantageous for Jin-cheon's side.
"It's the same either way. It'd be better to disguise ourselves as bandits again and smash 'em to bits!"
Buru was once again showing his hardline stance.
Buru also knew well that if they stayed idle in the current situation, it was they who would suffer hardship. This was a time to build up their strength, and being discovered here was absolutely unacceptable. They had judged that any response from the Haian Kingdom would likely be a mere formality. But the problem was that this investigation team had chosen the direction of this lake as their very first destination.
"Hmm, it seems we have been far too complacent. But we cannot avoid this place. With this lake supplying everything from our drinking water onward, we must remain here and ensure our enemies do not find out. Consider Buru's words as the worst-case scenario. If anyone has other opinions, speak up."
At Jin-cheon's words, everyone nodded and sank into thought. However, it was not long before Hwi-garam raised his head.
"Your Majesty."
"Hwi, speak."
"There is a way. What's more, it's a method that can aim for two birds with one stone."
All eyes in the Imperial Hall immediately focused on Hwi-garam.
"What is this method?"
"It is to utilize the characteristics of this place."
"Characteristics?"
The corners of Hwi-garam's mouth slowly rose as he drew his characteristic smile. And seeing this, Jin-cheon returned a look of interest.
For among the solutions Hwi-garam had ever proposed, there had never been a failure.